BAD behaviour on high school buses will not be tolerated under new plans by council chiefs in Lancashire.

Young louts have damaged seats, covered walls with graffiti and tampered with emergency doors.

Highways chairman Richard Toon explained that although only a small minority of passengers were guilty of anti-social behaviour, those responsible could face police action.

Mr Toon said: "We have something like 100,000 journeys a year and the figure causing the problem represents less than half a percent.

"The vast majority of children travelling on our buses are well behaved and set a fine example. It is a shame when a small minority cause problems and it also reflects badly on their friends." Under the new plans bus operators will be asked to report incidents to help identify trouble 'hot spots' and nuisance passengers.

Video surveillance equipment is already installed in some buses to record boisterous behaviour and the footage will be shown to schools and parents and, in extreme circumstances, the police.

Mr Toon said that as well as the cost to bus operators, unruly behaviour could also distract drivers and put other passengers at risk.

He said: "Our responsibilities under the Crime and Disorder Act may mean we introduce longer-term initiatives.

"We are implementing a new reporting system which, I hope, will help us identify hotspots and take action where necessary in liaison with the operators, police and the schools.

"High spirits at the end of the school day are understandable but we need to get the message across that bad behaviour and causing damage is simply not acceptable."